


Artificial Feelings

by ZoraShah



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: AU, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Character Redemption, Developing Friendships, F/M, FMAB Anime, Friendship, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Original Character - Freeform, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Slow Burn, alternative universe, not necessarily romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-14 05:41:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11201613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoraShah/pseuds/ZoraShah
Summary: Envy's pride did not let him die, and so he lived and escaped military clutches. He is saved by a naive young veterinarian, who is now inexplicably caught up in this messed-up world. Envy never managed to understand humans, but now, he possibly has the chance to understand them truly





	1. That Morning

**Author's Note:**

> At present, things seem rather tame, but it is a Mature rated fiction for a reason, with later discussions/themes of suicide and self-harm. More of a general warning, lots and lots of angst
> 
> This is set in an alternative timeline of the Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood anime

Cassie steadied herself against a nearby wall as her heart raced out of control. Shakily, she took a drink from her water bottle as she began walking to cool down her body. Admittedly, her tradition of having a daily jog has fallen apart slightly in recent years. This was partially due to a recent increase in military action in the area, blocking off roads and whatnot, but perhaps because of sheer laziness too. 

In any case, she was severely out of shape, which happened to make her stop at precisely the right corner to be able to spot a small green lizard. 

It was noticeable against the grey concrete floor, and relatively large. As Cassie knelt down next to the little creature, she noticed its shallow breaths and immediately thought it to be dehydrated. Taking her bottle of water, she gently tried to push droplets of water into the creature’s mouth (without drowning it of course). It coughed out some water slightly, easing its breathing somewhat. Her vetinary instincts kicked in, and Cassise gently slipped her hand underneath it and lifted the poor creature off the ground.

Soon she was walking briskly back to her apartment, careful not to jostle the little … thing. The more Cassie looked at it, the more frighteningly disturbing it was. For once, the eyes were abnormally large in proportion to its body, and its mouth was located vertically, almost reaching to its underbelly. It furthermore had several pairs of legs, and it definitely did not feel like an insect, with its leathery texture. Cassie quickly dismissed it as some morbid form of mutation that God has created, and kept on going.

As she rounded the corner, she spotted a road block, attended by various military officers in blue. Thankfully they appeared to be letting the public through. Cassie noticed a youthful dark-haired soldier’s eyes flicker over to her, she quickly averted her eyes under her shades– hoping not to draw any attention to herself. Well, not more attention, considering the fact that bystanders appeared flabbergasted at her appearance, perhaps more so because of the fact that she was in a tank top and her lack of exercise showed considerably.

Cassie was soon at her apartment complex, old and ugly – but at least it was reasonably cheap and close to work. She pushed upon the door and made her way up the stairs to her apartment on the third floor. In the eerie quiet of the building, Cassie opened up her hands to look closely as her new green companion. It too seemed to be faring a lot better indoors, with a much smoother sleeping rate. Cassie gently walked up the stairs, the little thing looked as if it just needed some sleep

She heard the little lizard coughing, settling on an uncomfortable wheezing sound 

Cassie looked down in concern. Whilst she never interacted with a creature as unusual as this, she did in fact know a considerable amount about reptiles and reckoned it sitting out in the sun was a probable cause. Cassie used one hand to push her key into the door and firmly locked it once inside. She put the creature on the kitchen counter, against the cool tiles, as she set about making a make-shift home for it. 

A part of her knew she couldn’t realistically keep a pet, considering the cost of looking after reptiles and the fact that she simply could not dedicate any time to another living creature with her work-life balance. But for now, she did what she did best, nurse animals back to health.

Cassie took out a cardboard box, a hang-around from when she first moved to the apartment, and tried to think of a way to engineer it to both provide sunshine and shade. She also took a few books out of her personal medical library (though, it was a very small library) to see if she could identify … it. 

____

Envy woke to the sound of a creaky fan and the sound of heavy footsteps. 

He was tired and irritated. He hated this form. It was small, clumsy and most definitely ugly. His large eyes opened slowly, vision still a little fuzzy due to exhaustion. The encounter from earlier had left his soul in a much weaker state, he was lucky he managed to find himself freed from his military escort as they ascended to the surface. However, upon escaping, he only managed to collapse in an alleyway, despite the accurate awareness that the military were most definitely after him. 

His breath came out in short gasps as his eyes swept slowly across the room he was currently in, a far cry from the grimy ally. The walls were yellow and there was a musty smell in the room, he coughed slightly – it always seemed to be the case that he ended up in ugly and smelly places. 

He unsteadily tried to balance on his feet. Of course, this form’s head was far to large, and his sense of balance was far to muddled. He fell down once more, turning to lay on his side. It was at that moment that he noticed the woman in the room. 

In her arms were various books, and her hair stuck around her face messily. But the most distinct feature was her noticeably darker skin.

Envy quickly closed his eyes, and sure enough, he heard her rather heavy footsteps approaching his location. A large thump voiced beside him, most likely the large white book she was holding earlier. Even the book smelled old. 

“Right then, I suppose I’ll try to find a heart on you buddy, somewhere…” He wanted to laugh at her befuddled tone, but he couldn’t help but jump when her fingers slid under his body. 

At once, he snapped his eyes open and jumped. He would have bitten into her shoulder, allowing him to gain substance for his preferred form … if she hadn’t picked up her book and smashed it against his body. He flew across the space, thrown against a tile wall. He came into contact with cold metal as he slid down, realising he was next to a sink. 

He was hit with a wave of dizziness, allowing said girl to grab a large glass from a nearby dish rank and place it over his body. Her hands clasped the top of the glass, effectively holding it in place. This gave him time to actually look at her. Noticing her distinct green eyes and white hair sticking to her face – the added adrenalin causing her body to break out in sweat.

What the hell just happened, what the actual hell!  
_______

 

Her mind worked in overdrive. At one point, it was just a limp little lizard – and now it attacked her with a ferocity she’d only seen in stray dogs. Somehow its eyes, now open, looked menacing as he glared up at her through the glass. Cassie very much felt anger directed at her, and before her mind could find a more logical reasoning for why a stupid lizard tried to attack her –

“Stupid girl, what the hell was that for!” Cassie’s hand trembled and her eyes widened. She felt her breathing become more laboured, she defiantly saw the weird mouth thing move, and there was the definite sound of a voice. But it couldn’t have possible come from this thing?

“Are you even listening to me, stupid woman” the voice spoke again, with a hint of distain. Cassie mind could not process anything that was happening. So, when red lightening flashed from within the cup, she very well thought that a spawn of the devil was in front of her.

Envy healed the sore part of his left side, which had swollen slightly. The idiot woman might as well have let him die if she was so willing to murder him, by book no less. She didn’t even have the consideration to respond! She just kept staring at him with the most stupid expression! 

Though he wasn’t content in the situation in the slightest, he became more and more concerned when the glass trap he was in began shaking violently. He barely registered her blubbering as he became concerned of the possibly the glass could break and impale him

“O-Oy! Stupid woman! Don’t you dare kill me, or I’ll just have to try and kill you again!” This definitely did not do the trick, but in fairness, she did not react further … which wasn’t saying something as Envy was sure she was having a full-blown panic attack

“God… Please forgive me, I beg you …” Envy managed to make out, amongst her sobs as tears streaked down her face. Envy’s eyes dropped in mind disappointment, she really was just like all the other religiously-obsessed heretics – it must be genetic

“Stupid woman!” He barked once again. “Just let me go for your God’s sake!” The seconds seem to drag on for hours before her shaky hands removed itself from the glass. 

Cassie’s body slid down the floor, moving away up until her back pressed itself against a cabinet on the other side of the small kitchen. Her eyes remained fixed on the glass and the creature within it. 

“W-W-What do you want?” Her voice was shrill as looked at the creature. For a moment, only the sounds of her heartbeat filled her eyes, before the creatures mouth opened (sideways, mind you) in small movements as it began to respond

“I want you to shut up.” He snapped, only causing her to shrink back further. He grumbled under his breath as he began trying to find a way to manoeuvre around the glass. Envy couldn’t even turn around, with his tail squashed against the glass. He then began trying to move his body sideways – hoping to tilt the glass over (he could always heal himself if it crashed)

A hand flew down and pressed against the top of the glass, holding it in place. Envy gave a small jump as he saw the girl’s red eyes look at him. She was breathing so heavily the glass was beginning to freeze over

“Don’t you dare,” she snapped. “I want answers you hell creature!” Envy couldn’t help but give a load laugh. How cool did she think she sounded? 

“Maybe you should answer me pathetic human! Where are you keeping me?” His shrill voice grew loader, leading to a Cassie’s growing headache. 

“Stop calling me that you lizard! I tried to save you!” 

“Sure,” she bristled at his tone. “Is there a scalpel in that drawer?” If she ever thought about how animals could speak, she would never have dubbed any creature with an insufferably smug voice. 

“Just what is your problem?” Cassie exasperated. “You could have died out there!”

Envy grew silent, with the sound of Cassie’s laboured breathing only becoming loader. Her hand eventually fell away from the glass, though she didn’t move away. Envy felt his eyelids grow weaker.

“H-Hey, don’t sleep on me!” She had so many questions left, running a hand through her damp hair. Eventually, her mind jumped to ask something the prideful lizard would not hopefully make a snarky remark about.

Her voice what shaky. “Just who are you?” It was a simple and stupid question, but it was all her brain could scramble for at the moment

“Hm,” it was almost as if he was turning an invisible nose up at her. “I am Envy human.” His voice’s seemed to drone on in the end as his eyes clothed slowly. Cassie had no idea how long she just sat and watched it sleep, perhaps anticipating another twist in this crazed afternoon. Eventually, she removed the glass, allowing the lizard to become comfortable as it stretched its body out. 

She didn’t realise that tears were streaming down her face as her heart race began to slow down, adrenaline gently easing away. For such an unremarkable start, she truly felt that this moment certainly cut away a few hours of her life.


	2. Chapter 2: New Dawn

Edward walked down the hallway holding a small set of yellow flowers in his hands. He remained bandaged quite a bit, though, he supposed his injuries were not particularly striking compared to the many people still housed in the hospital.

Eventually he came by the wing with private rooms, intended for long-term military patients. The hall remained sombre, but it was much more quiet. Edward walked into a familiar room, beaming at the sight of Alphonse

“Hey Al,” his weak brother raised a hand in a wave as Edward set the flowers on the side table. “This is new, you being awake before I get here”

“Well brother,” Alphonse responded. “You are a little late today”

“Yeah, sorry about that, things have been busy, you know?” 

“What, chatting to Winry?” Edward’s face took on a familiar red tinge

“W-What the hell Al?” Alphonse laughed, a familiar positive feeling rising in his chest. Visits from his brother always cheered his relatively dull day. Edward soon zoned in on the glass in Alphonse’s hands

“… Is that orange juice?” Al grinned

“Yeah, the doctors have started putting me on different drinks. I still have to have the drip and really bad food. But, orange juice still tastes nice.”

“Well, at least its not milk.”

Alphonse’s skin had taken on a much more healthier sheen since being placed in hospital. He was still horribly thin, though not resembling a corpse as he had done when Edward finally got his body back. It was during these rather surreal times that Edward ideally wondered if such moments were only dreams, and that he would wake up in a library somewhere with little other progress. Needless to say that this remained unspoken between the brothers, with one another trying to adopt a more positive outlook on their now forever changed life

“So brother, what have you been busy with recently? Does it have to do with the military again?” Edward sighed

“Yeah, the Cornel has everyone working hard. Its mostly just transition stuff, not really work when you think about it – I am technically retired.”

“Risa did come by a earlier today,” Al commented wistfully. “She couldn’t stay long, managing all that building work and the military stuff.”

“You’re right, I don’t envy them…” Edward eyes became unfocused as he returned to his own thoughts. An elongated and tense silence followed.

“Is there something wrong Ed?” 

“Nothing Al. Nothing big at least…”

“… Is this about Envy?” Alphonse’s already quiet voice became meek. Edward did not respond, but his silence was enough 

It was impossible not to worry about the status of Envy – somehow escaping from his military escort and is now unaccounted for in the city. Though he was still in his remaining lizard form, he still gave Edward and the retained sense of unease despite their victory. Envy’s simple existence was a threat to the victory they just achieved. Despite any understanding gleaned from their final encounter, Edward was wary of the unpredictable nature of this homunculi in particular

“Let’s not focus on that for now,” Edward gave a gentle smile as he tried to shake off his concerns, trying to keep up a positive atmosphere before the nurses kicked him out. “I have been talking to Winry though – don’t make that stupid smile!” Alphonse had the silliest grin on his face

“Ahem, anyway, she said she can visit soon – the military blockage is apparently easing up a bit …”

Edward continued to chat amicably to his brother as they discussed any and every topic. Trying to just enjoy their time together amongst the uncertainty of the world around them.

\--- 

“Just what is that?”

“Its your food … Envy”

Cassie was sure that if Envy was indeed a human, his lip would be curled up in a snarl as he looked at the slop before him. Due to his recovery as of late, he had been sleeping quite often, giving Cassie the chance to drop in food within his makeshift cage

Envy continued to glare at the food with real venom in his large eyes. He jerked his head to the side in a snooty manner. Cassie sighed from the kitchen

“It’s probably all you are capable of eating at the moment. Seeing as you can’t chew, there is no point in giving you anything substantial.” She snapped as she turned to him, her white hair dishevelled and dark bags under her eyes

“Stupid woman … telling me what to do,” Envy muttered in resentment as Cassie walked over to him.

Upon awaking, Envy found himself in a see-through plastic box, taped heavily onto a coffee table found in the living room. Holes were messily cut on the top, too high for him to reach. In the box was a water bowl and the said bowl of some reddish food.

Cassie sat across from him on a dusty brown sofa. Clutching a new re-filled plastic bottle of water. She was dressed lazily in a shirt and pants, offering little of their usual comfort in the current situation

“Now, you need to talk.” Envy lazily blinked his eyes as they remained half-lidded

“Why would I do that?”

“I saved your life, Envy.” 

“Of course you believe that.” Envy cackled. “This is just perfect, you really have no idea what I am, do you?” A disturbing grin spread across his face

“Of course not, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a horrible looking creature in my entire career.” She deadpanned, watching closely as Envy spluttered

“Oh you stupid, stupid woman. You just have no idea what I even am, what I can do!”

“Then tell me!” Cassie’s voice was becoming more and more exasperated 

“Definitely not, I don’t even think someone like you would have the mental capacity to really understand what I am.

“Just what is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re clearly senseless. Why go to all this effort to protect me huh?” Cassie flickered her eyes away.

“I have a duty of care to every animal I meet-”

“What a honourable duty, you should really treat me with more respect, you know.” She bristled

“I don’t need to respect a rude and ugly little … thing!” Envy deadpanned

“Wow, I’m hurt”

“Shut up!” She snarled bitterly as she stood up. “I can’t believe I was going to get answers from you!”

“Well done, it’s the first clever thing you said since we met” Envy grinned as he heard her frustrated mutterings.

She paces for a good while, only serving to emphasise a dull creaking in the floorboards. Envy tried his best to ignore it, for a while at least.

“Oy, keep it down woman,”

“I don’t need a lizard bossing me around,” she snapped. “And stop calling me that!”

“Well we both seem unwilling to use our given names,” he made a sound similar to a yawn.

“You haven’t even asked me my name!” She took a deep breath, “plus, Envy is a stupid name.” Said lizard seemed to be getting more and more impatient

“Take that back you stupid woman!”

“My name is Cassie!” She all but screamed, before quieting down when remembering the fact that she had neighbours. 

“What a beautiful name,” Envy drawled sarcastically. “Maybe I’ll use it from now on … or maybe not, I have no patience for irrelevant humans.”

Cassie huffed, it seemed we were back at square one.

“Just tell me what you are … Envy”

“Trying to get on my good side? How will knowing that help with your ‘care’, I would recover much better if you kept your mouth shut.” Cassie’s attempt at a reasonable approach was soon cracking

“Just tell me you idiot! How else can I help you!”

“By listening to a sentient being? I really don’t want or need to eat at the moment, so you can get rid of this slop and consider letting me go.” There was a pregnant silence as Cassie resumed her pacing, in that time, once could even see the gears turning in Envy’s head

“If your stupid human curiosity is so powerful, you may know that I am a homunculus. And that’s probably all you are able to comprehend.” He snapped, not noticing how her green eyes gleaming with a new sense of life.

“…A homunculus?” Envy muttered under his breath as he shifted around, with his back facing her Envy practically collapsed. It was clear that he was done with the current situation

“Whatever you want to think woman, I’m done with this insufferable conversation!”

Wasn’t much of a talk anyway. Cassie thought as she stood up. 

Her headache was progressively getting to painful to fuel her need to get answers. She left Envy and walked down to her bedroom.

Of course, she could not sleep.

This was her second day with Envy, with her somewhat admiring the fact that he was able to so easily sleep through most of the first. She was exhausted and stressed, and a part of her was afraid to mention her new lizard to anyone else – in fear of coming across as insane.

Perhaps it would be easier once work started up again. However, she could never forget the savage manner in which he attacked her. Could she just throw him out of her window without any concern?

He called himself a homunculus. The word was not completely alien to her, but was non-existent in her mental re-collection of animals she had studied in the past. His appearance was much of a mutated lizard, but his face was disturbingly structured like a parasite. She would likely need to research further. 

But aside from her theories on his biology – there was the tangible risk of his intelligence.  
Clearly, he could talk – and whilst not refined, it was developed. There was also the issue of what he knows. Cassie had no idea what a homunculus even was, and she was wary that his nonchalant attitude only spelt a future where he could truly show off his power. 

Her head streaked in pain once more as she clutched her head with one hand. A small tear ran down her face as she briefly wallowed in the frustration of her current situation. To scared to find help – fear of rejection from others, but also a fear of what Envy was capable of. She was no closer in understanding anything. 

Why did she want to know about him? Was it really the fear of him attacking her once more? From today it was clear that he held contempt for humans as a whole, a part of her believed he would simply disappear down a swear and live out the rest of his life (however long that may be)

She wasn’t sure how long she laid down on her bed before her body demanded sleep. For a brief moment, there was peace once again in her apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is Done! 
> 
> Will admit this is taking slightly longer as dialogue is always a tricky thing for me to do, but I am improving! The plan is to lace in other canon characters alongside Cassie and Envy as we progress. Thank you to anyone who had taken an interest in the first chapter and thank you to everyone who read the second as well!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this! I enjoyed writing this so much and have such big plans for this, I just hope everyone gets a really unique experience!


End file.
